DonationCoder.com Software > N.A.N.Y. 2010

NANY 2010 Release: Anuran

<< < (7/46) > >>

jdmarch:
+ Added a "Show previous entry" option.  (Thanks, jdmarch)-skwire (January 08, 2010, 04:10 AM)
--- End quote ---
Thank you!

Took out the status bar on the popup.
--- End quote ---
  :down: I was expecting this to become an option, not be eliminated altogether! I don't see an alternate solution in place, to the problem I posed earlier: returning to the computer after a long absence, how do I quickly know how long I've been gone? Yes, I can pop up Anuview. And yes, the "show previous entry" might give a clue but there's a difference between knowing what I was last working on, and knowing how long ago it was. If I was working on "big project" and it pops up and says "big project" then I won't get a kick in the pants that says "yes, you were working on big project 2 hours ago and you are about to work on big project, but what were you doing in between?"

I'm trying a (temporary, I hope) workaround in which I disable updating the title bar so I can can see when it popped up, then press the popup hotkey so the popup's time will be updated, hope that I remember the first time, and proceed accordingly... hmm, not much of a workaround. Maybe better to pop up Anuview so I can see the previous entries.

I'll work on the set-time-archival feature next.
--- End quote ---
:up: Great!

doctorfrog:
:down: I was expecting this to become an option, not be eliminated altogether! I don't see an alternate solution in place, to the problem I posed earlier: returning to the computer after a long absence, how do I quickly know how long I've been gone? Yes, I can pop up Anuview. And yes, the "show previous entry" might give a clue but there's a difference between knowing what I was last working on, and knowing how long ago it was. If I was working on "big project" and it pops up and says "big project" then I won't get a kick in the pants that says "yes, you were working on big project 2 hours ago and you are about to work on big project, but what were you doing in between?"
-jdmarch (January 08, 2010, 09:11 AM)
--- End quote ---

My personal preference is to keep the popup (and indeed the program itself) as simple and passive/polite as possible, Spartan, even. In coming up with the idea for Anuran, I was trying to get away from apps that behave as icy taskmasters, and have something that politely perked up and asked what I was doing. I could easily ignore Anuran if I want, because it never gets in the way, and I never feel like I'm watched or penalized (kicked in the pants) for not sticking to an inflexible schedule. There are other apps (and people) that do this quite well. (EssentialPIM for basic taskmastering, ManicTime for all-seeing-eye app watching.)

This spirit may or may not explain why the option was removed, but knowing Skwire, you may see it or a similar option in improved form. :)

(Now, of course, my personal preferences shouldn't necessarily limit the program's scope as it gains in popularity, and it wouldn't surprise or dismay me if it turned into more of a taskmaster app. Indeed, the very first moment I made the app request, I also gave up control over the idea, so it'll be interesting to see where it goes.)

doctorfrog:
Ok, I thought of a way around this:

1. On popup, show the time per usual, static. Do not update. This retains the popup time.
2. When the popup is actually selected, update the time to current. Keep static.
3. Repeat 2 whenever popup is selected, updating the time.
4. NO CHANGE: Retain the behavior that uses the current timestamp upon recording the entry. (ie. the moment you hit ENTER, that's your log timestamp.)

If it's important to someone to know how long the popup hung around waiting for attention, they can see it, since it's always on top. If it's covered by another window that's always on top... well... that's a sign that you have too many windows on top.

Note also that this is possible entirely because Anuran doesn't ever steal your focus (my very favorite feature) :)

No added jewelry to the popup, no real need for a toggle (I think), but there will be a need to explain this in a readme. Most peeps won't even notice it unless they're looking for it.

jdmarch:
I hear you, docfrog, and I do support KISS. But the notion that, if the user wants to know 2 data values, then the program shows the first one, then disappears it permanently, then shows the other, is really not very user-friendly. A simple status bar notice hardly seems gaudy and it avoids that nastiness.

I agree that Anuran should not be a taskmaster, scheduler, etc. But that's not to say that it shouldn't give you simple info relevant to its purpose, which is to let you record what you were doing. How far back is "what were you doing?" YMMV.

ceebu:
Would be great if you can build a feature where you can assign hotkeys for different "tags" - when the popup opens - more like the tags feature on google picassa. Is this possible ?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page